Masked Danger
by Ryan Mashall
Summary: It only took some bad memories resurfacing to make Lucy start destroying herself. It could only take so long before Natsu had to face Zeref. What could it take for them to save eachother from the thing that'll kill themselves? Love was certainly not what they expected. (Warnings: non-con/rape & anorexia)
1. That night

**A/n: Thanks for picking up Masked Danger! I've been working on this for a while, and I hope you like it and review! Sorry abt grammer...**

 **oh and these guys'll probs be ooc here and there, but pls read anyways. Thanks to my amaz editor Sofia and puttn up with me.**

 ***Important* in a character's pov it'll be 3rd person, but all thoughts (italics), and dialogue is said by them unless stated or implied otherwise, thanks!**

 **-Ryan Sensei**

In the town of Magnolia is the vast kingdom of Fiore. Located in that Kingdom are numerous wizard guilds. The guild that quickly became the representative for it all was none other than the notoriously rowdy, Fairy Tail. Where, at the moment, two of the guild's strongest were in one of their daily brawls.

"What the hell, flame brain?!"

"You're the one that started it, ice popsicle!"

"Me?! It was clearly your fault, so why are you tryna blame me?!"

"Huh? What are you talking about stripper? You wanna go?!"

That was all it took for the loud guild hall to become even louder, as a fight between two of Fairy Tail's best fighters began.

The white haired barmaid giggled at the sight, and made her way over to the violet haired dragon slayer, happily sitting with Carla at the bar.

"Ne, Wendy, got any idea what they're even arguing about?"

"Oh! I'm pretty sure it's something involving Lucy... I'm not exactly sure what, but knowing Natsu it's definitely about her," Wendy replies as she finishes her glass of milk.

"I'm still surprised Lucy hasn't realized how madly in love Natsu is with her. I'm pretty sure everyone but her knows," Mira says as she leans on the counter.

"Speaking of Lucy, where is she?" Carla says, scanning the room.

At the sound of the question, Wendy begins sniffing the air before replying, "well she definitely isn't in the guild right now..."

The heavy clinking sound of metal armor broke the young dragon slayer's concentration as the notorious Titania approached the two fighting teens with a menacing purple aura.

"Natsu. Gray. You two wouldn't be fighting, would you?", she growled at them.

At the sound of the red head's voice, both boys suddenly wrapped an arm around each other as they nervously laughed.

"Of course not Erza! We wouldn't dare! Na Gray?"

"Hai! Natsu and I were just joking around!"

The two boys laughed as they sweat dropped in dread, hoping Erza would quickly drop the topic.

"Hm. I thought so. Where's Lucy by the way?"

Natsu perked his head up at the sound of Lucy's name.

"I'm pretty sure she'll be here soon, she's kinda been coming a bit later for a while now..." Natsu says as he thinks aloud, looking up at the ceiling.

"Pht! Of course _you'd_ know, since you're so in love~ with her," Gray added while smirking.

"S-Shudap Iceberg! We're just partners, of course I'd know all about her!" Natsu retorted with a slight blush, pushing Gray away. "Just you wait, she's coming now, I smell her."

Despite how much Natsu denied it, he was definitely head over heals for Lucy, but admitting it out loud, and to Gray nonetheless… That wasn't happening -any time soon- at least. Right now though, all Natsu could think about was the strawberry vanilla smell coming his direction, and GOD, he loved it.

As if on cue, the guild hall doors swung open and revealed the busty blonde mage. Lucy was wearing a short, white mini skirt, a pink tube top, her usual belt with her keys were attached to her waist, and a small brown leather purse that slung across her chest.

With a large, heart-warming smile, she happily greeted her guild mates.

"Ohayou mina!"

In return, her guild mates greet Lucy -who was publicly known to everyone but the girl herself, as the light of fairy tail- back as she made her way to one of the tables in the center of the guild.

Opening her book, she cups her chin with her hand, arm propped on the table and begins wandering off into her own world as she reads away.

 **Natsu's POV**

As Lucy began reading, Natsu couldn't help but freeze where he was standing, mouth agape.

 _Once again she looks like a goddess, as usual she smells amazing, and GOD those lips. Could anyone smell that tempting?_

"Yo flame brain, you're drooling," Gray says, snickering as he makes his way over to Lucy.

"W-what? Am not! Take that back ice prick!" Natsu shouts, trying to catch up to his rival.

Happy, who was hovering nearby, just covered his mouth with his paws. As he snickers he says, "you liiiiiiiiiike her~." Knowing full well that with his dragon like hearing, Natsu would pick up on his comment.

Trying to hide his blush, Natsu continued to make his way over to Gray. To Natsu's dismay, not only did the ice mage steal the seat right next to his partner and love, but the whole table was practically full. It was filled with people wanting to sit next to the oh so popular mage. Without a seat, the dragon slayer could only hover behind Gray and Lucy. He purposely stuck his head between the two, so Gray wouldn't try any funny business.

"Ne, ne Luce, what are ya reading?" The pink haired teen says, effectively receiving her attention.

As the blonde slowly puts down and closes the book, she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and looks back at Natsu. Her brown eyes could make a man go mad just by its temptation. Effortlessly, her body was placed in a seductive position as she prepared to speak. Just this small action earned a few gulps from some of the men nearby.

"Oh, hey Natsu!" She says in a cheerful tone, glancing down at her book then back at him. "This is just a book that Levi recommended for me, it's a really good book about this guy and girl who fall in love. It's between a courtesan and a writer, but the courtesan is dying and there are people trying to get in between their forbidden love..." she turns her head to Levy who's sitting across from her. "It's really good, I'm loving it so far, thanks Levy!"

"No problem Lu-chan! I love that book! It was actually made into a movie, we should see it together some time soon," the small blue haired girl says with an innocent smile.

Clasping her hands with Levy's, Lucy ecstatically says, "I'd love to! It's a promise!"

Unable to control his thoughts, Natsu couldn't help the tilting of his head, joined with a wide eyed expression.

 _She's too cute. I seriously wanna cuddle with her, and kiss her, but she'd probably get weirded out if her partner just suddenly confessed to her..._

His thoughts were interrupted when Lucy continues and rests her chin on her now crossed arms on the table, "It's so romantic, I want someone to love me like that..."

Everyone at the table aside from Natsu simultaneously thought the same thing.

 _She's amazing, but god is she dense, and Natsu's too slow!_

At the same time, Natsu was thinking as well,

 _I love you, I could love you like that. If you'd just give me the chance. You wouldn't regret it, because I'd cherish you every day..._

Gajeel, who was sitting next to Levy cleared his throat, clearing the silence and asks, "hey bunny girl, why're ya coming so late lately?"

Lucy tensed up at the question, but they were too surprised by the iron dragon slayer's bluntness to notice.

"Yeah Luce, you used to come at the same time as me, is somethin' up?" Natsu asked.

As quickly and swiftly as Lucy could manage, she did what she knew best. She smiled even when she didn't want to. Her smile seemed to always to reassure everyone that she was ok. Then says, "Oh, well I'm kinda writing something, and have been using my mornings to work on it..."

"Oh! Is it that book that you're working on? Got it, I thought you were doing something really cool without us, or were late because you were sick and not feeling well for a while or something, I don't know..."

"Hehe.. Yup, I'm definitely writing... How could I even be sick every morning anyways? That's just silly," Lucy nervously said giving a small smile to Natsu.

"I mean people do get sick in the morning when they're preg-" Gajeel starts before getting a hand slapped over his mouth.

"She's not. It's not even funny as a joke. Don't you dare start telling her stuff along those lines, she's still pure," Levy whispers condescendingly.

Lucy just cocks an eyebrow and turns back to Natsu, "Ne, are we going on any jobs sometime soon?"

Natsu was taken by surprise and just nervously laughs, "o-ou! Yea, Happy already picked out a job, we're going tomorrow..." Lucy's gaze made the flame mage blush and turn his head in another direction. "Y-yosh! I'm all fired up! We're going tomorrow, na Happy?"

"Aye sir!" The blue exceed says, as he flies over and sits on top of Natsu's head.

Lisanna, looking at her childhood friend, laughs at his antics from across the table and says, "I'm hungry! Lucy, do you want anything?"

Lucy freezes for a moment, then nervously smiles as she politely rejects the offer, saying that she wasn't hungry.

The day went as usual, loud and full of brawls, until finally the night approached and people began heading home. Natsu wasted no time in asking Lucy if he and Happy could walk her home. To his delight, she agreed.

The walk back was full of Natsu and Happy cracking jokes and Lucy's contagious and uncontainable laughter. Natsu was overjoyed, the two most important people in his life were there with him; in that moment he was in pure bliss.

The slight night breeze didn't phase him at all, with his abnormal body temperature, he was warm all around. Lucy, on the contrary, let out a slight shiver and murmured, "It's cold..."

Natsu picked up on the slight whisper and held out his outstretched hand towards the blonde with a red blush, "C'mere."

Lucy glanced at his hand, then back at Natsu before nervously taking the hand. She trusted Natsu, so she wouldn't ask questions, but what she did want to ask was why a light blush was appearing on her own cheeks.

Natsu surprised himself as he transitioned from keeping a firm hold of Lucy's hand to lifting her in a princess carry position.

"Kyaaa! N-Natsu what are you d-doing?"

Attempting not to falter at her cuteness, Natsu continues walking. "Just stay like this, and hold on to me, you'll be warm in no time."

Instead of struggling like he thought she would, Lucy just gripped his vest with her free hand and leaned into the crook of his neck. Natsu couldn't be anymore wrong, if he was in bliss before, now he was in ecstasy.

With the dim lights of Lucy's road approaching, he dreaded the thought of having to let his partner go. He wanted time to stand still, just Lucy in his arms and Happy nearby was enough. It was all he wanted.

To Natsu's right was the stream on Strawberry st. and the narrow pathway that Lucy dangerously walked across every night. As if continuing her routine, he hopped onto the elevated cobblestone. This action, effectively earned a small response in surprise from the blonde.

Natsu looked down at the blonde and chuckled lightly at the sight. Her eyes widened in panic as she gripped tighter onto the dragon slayer's vest. She pressed herself closer to Natsu, trying to gain reassurance that she was safe. Catching her unease, Natsu calmly reassured her.

"I got ya Luce, just hold on a bit. We're almost home."

"...Kay."

 _She's too cute. God I wanna kiss her right now..._

"Ne... Natsu?"

"Yeah?"

"A-Aren't I heavy? You know you don't have to carry me, we're almost home. You really don't have to..."

 _What's she talking about? She's not heavy at all, if anything she's seriously light. Is she tryna get me to put her down? I knew it, she is weirded out. Guess I should put her down. Damn it..._

Natsu halted in his tracks, which conveniently was only a few houses away from Lucy's.

"W-What are you talking about? You're not heavy, but yeah, I guess we are close to your house. I'll put you down."

Natsu gently lowered the blonde to her feet, and as she steadied herself, Natsu noticed the uncomfortable look on her face.

 _Damn it, I was right, she was weirded out... Happy, please make this less_ _awkward!_ Natsu thought as he made direct eye contact with the flying blue cat. Somehow picking up what Natsu was implying, Happy began speaking.

"Phft! Lucy is heavy!"

"Shut it! C'mere you!"

"Phft! Ahh! Save me Natsu, Lucy's gonna eat me!" Happy said as he hid behind Natsu.

"Who'd wanna eat you?" Lucy said as she puffed out her cheeks and looked to the side. They finally reached Lucy's front door and Natsu decided that the atmosphere was right for him to speak up again.

"Alright Luce, we're here! Can we sleepover?" He said smiling as he rested both hands behind his head.

"No! I mean... I'm busy, sorry. Another time..."

 _Great now she's really freaked out by me, I guess we should give her some space._

"No, it's all good! Anyways, we'll see you tomorrow for our mission, alright?"

"Y-yea..."

"Yosh! I'm all fired up!"

"Hehe, see ya guys later..."

"Bye Luce!" "Cya Lucy!" The two said while departing. As Natsu turned around, he saw Lucy smile and wave as she shut the door behind her.

 _Well, I guess things aren't all bad..._

"Alright Happy, I'm hungry! Let's get some fish!"

"Yey! Fish! We can still fish at night?"

"I don't see why not. Let's go!"

That night, how would Natsu ever know that if he'd just stayed with Lucy that night, he could've prevented her from how she was going to, yet again hurt herself. How would he know that that night would be the time where Lucy's 'bad habit' would be what set everything into motion.

 **A/n: thus ends the mellow chapter one, it'll get more action packed, and with some lemon here and there, please continue reading! Follow and Review, thanks**

 **-Ryan sensei**


	2. Beauty hurts

**A/n: Thnx sm for the follows and I hope you'll continue to read as the story progresses**

 **(Important) With a person's POV, all thoughts and "quotations" are from them unless stated otherwise.**

 **pls ask if u hv any questions. Thanks!**

 **-Ryan sensei**

 **Lucy's POV**

As Natsu carried Lucy back to her house, her mind began to fill with worries. She loved the feeling of being held by Natsu, but she couldn't help feeling like he was doing it out of obligation as a partner, or maybe he just felt sorry for her.

Either way, she felt like a dead weight to him, and he'd probably never admit that to her because she knew Natsu was too kind to do that. Sometimes his kindness killed her.

Out of nowhere he hopped onto the ledge of the stream's cobblestone ledge that she walked on daily. As her eyes widened in surprise, she gripped tighter onto his vest and burrowed herself closer to Natsu.

Lucy's heart wouldn't stop beating fast, she knew that at this rate, Natsu would definitely hear it, but why was it beating this fast in the first place? And why couldn't her heart settle? Questions like these plagued her mind. After a few minutes, she realized how amazing his body heat felt to her. She pressed herself closer, only then she noticed his intoxicating scent.

 _He smells amazing... Like burnt wood, kinda like a campfire. Just as warm too..._

Knocking her out of her thoughts, Natsu reassured her by saying, "I got ya Luce, just hold on a bit we're almost home."

 _Sometimes, when he's not goofing around or fighting... moments like these, I really begin to think how sweet and amazing he is…_ Lucy's cheeks reddened at the thought.

"...Kay." _Now that I remember, he's still carrying me. God I'm so embarrassed, he's probably dying for an excuse to put me down. I mean, look at me. I'm so fucking fat, and heavy. He really is too nice to be putting up with me..._

"Ne... Natsu?"

"Yeah?" He calmly responded.

"A-Aren't I heavy? You know you don't have to carry me, we're almost home. You really don't have to..." S _eriously just admit it, you know I'm fat, so please stop forcing yourself to be nice to me out of pity, It's not worth it._

Natsu then stopped walking and glanced at Lucy.

"W-What are you talking about? You're not heavy, but yeah, I guess we are close to your house. I'll put you down..."

 _See, I knew it. You can just tell how uncomfortable he is by the way he talks... Seriously, you don't have to lie to me, I already know. God I wanna go home before I start crying in front of him. I can't have him see me look any worse..._

As Lucy's feet touched the ground, she was somewhat upset that the comfort of Natsu's arms was no longer with her, but knew it was for the best. She didn't want him to ever have to suffer, especially at her expense. She cared too much for him.

Out of nowhere Happy spoke, repeating words that she knew all too well.

"Phft! Lucy is heavy!"

 _I already know I am! I know I'm not good enough! I know I'm fucking fat! That's why I'm barely eating anything! That's why I'm this fucking way! Saying it aloud just makes it worse..._

"Shut it! C'mere you!"

"Phft! Ahh! Save me Natsu, Lucy's gonna eat me!" Happy yelped, hiding behind Natsu.

"Who'd wanna eat you?" Lucy said puffing out her cheeks and looked to the side.

 _I wouldn't dare eat that much! Much less eat a cat!_

Finally at Lucy's front door, Natsu spoke up again.

"Alright Luce, we're here! Can we sleepover?" He asked smiling, ready to enter the stellar mage's home.

"No!" _Crap! Crap! Crap! Give an excuse! Anything! Don't make him worry for you! Don't concern him, it'll just trouble him..._ "I mean... I'm busy sorry. Another time..."

"No, it's all good! Anyways, we'll see you tomorrow for our mission, alright?"

"Y-yea..."

"Yosh! I'm all fired up!"

"Hehe, see ya guys later..."

"Bye Luce!" "Cya Lucy!"

As Lucy watched the the two make their way home, she gave a small genuine smile of relief and waved. Right after, she entered and closed the door behind her. Finally, she was home. The stellar mage slowly slid her back along the door and crouched on the floor.

Lucy gripped her shirt exactly where her heart was located, and a few tears slid down her face.

"It hurts... It really hurts and I don't know why!" She let out a slight whimper before sniffling and wiping her face.

 _Just do what you usually do, and it'll all be better._

The blonde picked herself up and made her way to the bathroom. Removing all of her clothing, she stared at her gorgeous figure in the mirror.

Lucy had become skinnier lately, despite her large bust remaining. No matter how much weight she lost, it wasn't good enough for her. She always assumed she appeared fat, ugly, and undesirable every time she looks into the mirror. I mean, that _was_ just what she was taught to think.

Gritting her teeth upon seeing her figure, she mutters, "why am I so fucking fat? What did I do wrong? I know I'm ugly, but is it wrong that I was happy that it felt like he cared? Even though it's just my wishful thinking, is it wrong to want someone to want me back?"

For a moment, Lucy looked down and didn't flinch as she thought about the feeling she just had when she thought about Natsu. The feeling she had when he carried her, when he spoke those kind words, when it seemed like he cared for her. When he'd protect and save her... Has she always been thinking of him this way? Was what she felt towards Natsu... was _that_ love? Was that what her mother always spoke so fondly of?

 _Even though I am who I am, and look like I do... I think I li- no.. I'm pretty sure I love him... Is it ok for me to- I mean, is it wrong for me to feel this way towards him? Towards my partner? I mean he makes me feel so special, and so... wanted. I know he doesn't like me, and would never, but is it wrong for me to.. to think, that there'd be a little hope…?_

Lucy shook her head and glanced at her figure again. The reminder of her figure frustrated her. She punched her mirror exactly where her face was reflected; effectively shattering the mirror, and leaving a few of the mirror glass shards embedded in her knuckles.

Glancing at her now bleeding knuckles, she hissed in pain as she unfurled her hand.

 _Crap, this is gonna leave a mark, I'll have to bandage it later. But first..._

The stellar mage picked up a hair elastic that she left on her sink counter earlier that morning and tied up her hair. She leaned over her toilet, her knees hitting the floor. She had her injured hand maintaining her balance on the seat, and the other near her mouth.

Lucy took a few minutes to catch her breath before she pointed and stuck both her index and middle fingers together, the other fingers, gently folded into her palm. Then, without warning, the blonde lunged that hand down her throat, effectively gaining a gagging response. As her fingers ventured further down her throat, her body continued to gag until finally she got the response that she knew too well.

Her body practically screamed as it was forced to vomit the little nutrients it was provided, but she didn't care. Lucy had already been somewhat bulimic for a few months now, minus the over eating. If anything, she'd been under eating.

After the mage emptied her stomach's contents, and flushed the toilet to erase all evidence; Lucy let out a strained smile and shakily made her way to the shower. Suddenly feeling a slight wave of nausea poor over her.

 _Ignore it, ignore it, you're fine. Beauty hurts, this is nothing._

The stellar mage managed to shakily step into the shower, and turn on the water as cold as possible. Sure, she was already freezing, but nothing felt better than a cold shower after your body was burning on the inside.

Since the mirror glass shards in her knuckles were quite large, she was able to easily pluck out the pieces sticking out from her hand. As blood trickled from the wound down to the drain, relief swept over her when she saw that her hand only appeared to have a few scratches on them, but nothing that would leave a scar.

After completing her shower and getting dressed, Lucy grabbed her med-kit, and took out a roll of white bandages. The slight pressure she put on her hand after applying the cotton caused a few droplets of blood to splash on top of one of the books she'd been reading.

"Shoot!" the stellar mage whined as she began looking around and found her tissue box. Rushinb, she took a tissue and turned back to the black book. Except, she became surprised when she saw that the blood stained book no longer had a single trace of blood on it.

Confused, Lucy picked up the book to further inspect it. But no matter how hard she looked on, around, and even through the book, no blood was spotted anywhere, except for her bandaged hand that is.

"Weird... I could've sworn some landed on this book... What book is this anyways?" Looking at the cover, she noticed the contrasting red letters on the black book cover spell: **The Dark Mage Zeref**

 _Oh that's right! I heard somewhere that he associated with stellar spirits, so I wanted to read more about it..._

Giving up her efforts, she placed the book on her desk and got under the covers. For some reason, an unsettling wave rushed over her, so she glanced towards her window. The night sky filled with constellations reminded her of her beloved spirits, and she smiled, letting a few sudden tears roll down. Why she was crying? Lucy herself didn't know, but the sudden tears were starting to become a habit.

With that, Lucy drifted off into one of her first of many more to come nightmares.

 **Within Lucy's dream**

 _"Kill me" cried an unknown voice._

 _Everywhere she looked was pitch black, there was nothing, except for the young man's voice._

 _"Hello? Who's there?"_

 _"I don't wanna kill anymore, so kill me," the voice pleaded again._

 _"What are you talking about? Hello?"_

 _"NATSU!" The man's scream was the last voice spoken._

 _Confused, Lucy continued searching for the source of the voice, only to be further engulfed in never ending darkness._

 **(End of Dream)**

Lucy woke up in tears. Unlike most of her dreams, she remembered the whole thing; start to finish. It was a few hours before she and Natsu would have to meet up at the train station, but for some reason, no matter how much Lucy wanted to go back to enjoy whatever sleep she could get, her body wouldn't let her. She was shaking uncontrollably, still recalling the terror of the darkness and the painful voice clearly.

Unable to sleep, but not wanting to move, Lucy sat there until her tears dried, until minutes changed into an hour. Then finally she got up, got changed into some pink sweatpants and a matching colored zip up jacket, and went for a jog.

Lately, Lucy had felt the excessive need to not only watch her food, but to exercise as well. Then after her jog, she'd look at the newest Sorcerer's Weekly edition, just to compare how much better the models were compared to her in multiple ways. She'd start by 'purging', shower, get dressed for the day, then would write a little in her book -there had to be some truth to what she told her guild mates- and would leave the house. The usual routine lately. The only difference being a newly bandaged hand.

The busty mage locked the door behind her and placed a hand to her side, confirming her keys' presence, before heading to the meeting spot. While the blonde was walking, her vision would get blurry here and there followed by a slight wave of dizziness.

 _Jeez, I wish I had healing magic like Wendy at times like these... I know it might be making it worse, but just so I won't have to walk for a bit..._

"Gate of the clock, I open thee! Horologium!" She shouted, slicing said key through the air. Upon the arrival of the clock spirit, Lucy crouched and slept inside the spirit after telling him that she had to meet Natsu at the train station.

 **Natsu's POV**

"I still don't see why we have to take a train there, we can walk just fine..."

"Natsu, stop being such a scaredy cat, plus Lucy would hate walking that far!" exclaimed Happy, sitting on one of the train station benches.

"Yea you're right... OI! Who're you calling scaredy cat?! If anything that's you!"

"Hehe! Ne, Natsu, is Lucy here yet? The train's gonna be here in 5 minutes..."

"Hrm... well *sniffs air* I think I smell her nearby, but it's kinda light, like something's blocking it..."

"Aye... oh, look Natsu! It's Lucy! She's inside her clock spirit. We haven't even started the mission yet and she's already too tired to walk," the cat says giggling.

Horologium stopped right infront of Natsu, and assuming the agile slayer would take her, he jumped a few feet in the air shouting from above, "times up!" Before poofing back to the spirit world. With the clock's sudden disappearance, Lucy was seconds away from landing on the ground, when the pink haired slayer caught her with both hands.

"Geez! That was close..."

"Aye! Oh, she's sleeping. Should we wake her up?"

"Na, it's fine, let her sleep."

 _I know she doesn't like it when I hold her, but just for a little bit before she wakes up..._

Natsu adjusted the sleeping stellar mage into the same position as yesterday, and boarded the train along with Happy. The pinkette placed his partner across from him in the booth, and Happy nestled on top of her stomach.

This was a heartwarming picture for Natsu, at least until the train began moving that is.

 _Dear God, I knew I should've walked! I just hope we get to Oshibana Town soon... I think I'm gonna be sick..._

With that last thought, the fearsome dragon slayer's face shifted into a dark shade of green. They'd arrive at their destination around 2 hours later. Their mission: Destroy the under ground den, infested with lizards who're terrorizing nearby stores and people.

 **A/n: so the mission begins!... in the next chapter 😏👌😉**

 **Thnx for reading, review!**

 **-Ryan sensei**


	3. Lizard Blood

**A/n: It's been a bit, but happy holidays and hello 2017! Here's a chap to celebrate. As usual thank you for reading**

 **-Ryan sensei**

"Yosh! Finally we stopped!" Happily screamed the onyx eyed slayer. The abrupt jolt of the train woke both Happy and Lucy from their long naps.

"Ara? Where am I? Huh? Is this the train? What's goin-" Lucy began.

"You're finally up! You've been sleeping forever!" Teased the exceed.

"You're one to talk! You were definitely sleeping on me a few minutes ago... but whatever. Last thing I remember was asking Horologium to take me to the station..."

"Yea! Natsu carried you onto the train from there, and now we've arrived in Oshibana Town for our mission," the blue cat said with pride.

"Oh." _Damn it, the mission hasn't even started, and I'm already causing him trouble... Damn it Natsu, you're too considerate! I know it's wrong, but I'm a little happy..._

"C'mon Lucy! We're leaving you behind!" Shouts Natsu from outside. At some point, Happy found his way next to him, and they were both waiting for the blonde girl.

Joining her partners, the three made their way to their employers.

 **NxLxNxLxNxL**

"Woah this place is huuuge!" Natsu shouted mouth agape, as he looked the enormous recreational building up and down.

"Just try to control yourselves, kay?" Lucy pleaded to the wild pair.

"Aye sir!" Both Natsu and Happy replied in unison.

Lucy let out a sigh, with her partners, it was close to impossible for them to behave _and_ not cause trouble, but that was part of their charm that she loved them for, despite the trouble it beings...

Quickly opening the door, Natsu popped his head in and began to shout.

"Moshi mosh? Anyone here? We're from fairy tail and are here to kill some gekos!"

When he received no response, the pink haired teen turned back towards his partners that were waiting just outside.

"Guys, nobody responded when I shouted..."

"Then they're probably not here yet, we should wait," sighed Lucy.

"Oh! Natsu, while they're not here, we should check to see if they have any fish!" Happy happily suggested, wasting no time to fly in.

"Yosh! We can be like ninjas!" Natsu shouted, following behind.

"Oi! You can't just barge into whatever place you want! ... Guys?... Oi? … Wait for me!" Lucy exclaimed, running inside the dark building. The first thing she found was in fact, her partners, but they were certainly **not alone**.

In the corner were multiple workers, and townspeople, huddled together in fear for their lives; as two lizards, both the size of a train passage car, surrounded and blocked them in.

"O-oi, Natsu... you don't think these huge guys are the types of lizards we have to get rid of are, right?"

Natsu turned his head upon hearing Lucy's question, then turned back towards the lizards who looked ready to pounce on their prey.

"They probably are Luce. For now we should just try beating these guys up, while saving those guys over there. Happy, let's go!"

"Aye sir!" Happy shouted as he lifted Natsu in the air, and the two of them flew at full speed towards the leftmost lizard, and landed a huge blow to the side of it's stomach. The impact, left the amphibian colliding towards the wall to the left.

 **Lucy's POV**

As she watched her partners send the large amphibian flying, she looked towards to huddled people. Who were now unsure whether to run away and risk getting attacked by the other lizard, cheer for their savior's arrival, or do nothing at all.

 _I can't just leave everything to Natsu again, I've gotta help too!_

The blonde's feet moved immediately into action, while she ran she lifted a key and shouted, "gate of the golden bull! I open thee! Taurus!"

"Moo! Lookin' hot today Lucy!"

 _You don't have to try so hard to compliment me because I'm your key holder. I already care about all of you, you guys seriously don't have to lie._

"Taurus! Let's kick that over sized lizard's butt!" Lucy says as she gets into a fighting position, her whip secured in hand.

"Moo! Of course!"

Taurus and Lucy ran side by side until the lizard was right in front of them.

 _Alright, let's get his attention._

"Hey! You! The big gecko over there!" Upon hearing the sudden voice behind it, the lizard turned its head, then body towards the blonde and her spirit.

 _Ok, I got his attention, now I need the people to safely evacuate..._

"You guys in the corner! Get out of here! We're the fairy tail wizards sent to destroy these lizards, leave this to us! Hurry!"

The small crowd of people looked around at each other for a bit. Then in unison, nodded and ran towards the front door.

As the group left, Lucy was still faced with a lizard plenty of times bigger than herself to take down. She made eye contact with the large creature for a moment. It lifted its head, and made a loud hissing noise, enabling you to see the entirety of its mouth and split tongue; as if imitating a battle cry.

Before the creature could make an attack, the blonde lashed her whip, and used it to coil around it's back leg. Puffing out her cheeks as she pulled the whip as quickly as possible, she did feel a pop in her shoulder, but what was more important was that the beast lost it's balance when it's supporting leg unwillingly shifted. Upon seeing the beast struggling to not fall over, Lucy took this as her chance to finish him off.

"Now! Taurus!"

The bull went rushing towards the falling lizard and lifted his axe. Taurus jumped midair, once he came in close contact with his opponent, he sent the axe flying down; effectively slashing it right down the center, and killing it.

The blood of the lizard went flying and some splattered onto Lucy.

"Yuck! Now I have to change..." Lucy stated in a discusted tone while looking down at her now dark red clothing.

She took the chance to look at her bleeding hands for a moment. The amount of force she had put in towards pulling the massive creature calloused and injured both her injured and non injured hands. The blonde glanced back over to her spirit that was standing on top of the lizard's corpse. Panting after using up some energy.

"Thank you Taurus, I think we're all set for now, I'll call you again if I need any help."

With that, the perverted bull went back to the spirit world. Relieved, Lucy took a moment to catch her breath, only to realize she was feeling dizzy again and could no longer differentiate up from down. Stumbling back and forth, it didn't take more than a few seconds for sblack spots to cloud her vision. And in an instance, Lucy collapsed on the floor.

 **Natsu's POV**

"They probably are Luce, for now we should just try beating these guys up, while saving those guys over there. Happy, let's go!"

Natsu glanced back at Happy and gave him a familiar look of readiness. Sensing his cue, the cat replied with his usual phrase.

"Aye sir!"

Lifting Natsu into the air, the two of them flew full speed towards the leftmost lizard.

"Alright Happy, you already know what I'm gonna do."

"Aye sir!" Happy said smirking. Natsu stuck out his right leg and kicked the lizard, effectively landing a huge blow to the side of it's stomach. No surprise that the impact caused him to be sent flying towards the wall to his left.

"Yosh! Now to finish him off!" Happy released Natsu onto the ground and Natsu ran straight towards the lizard, but right before he could launch a flame attack, he noticed a small cowering figure in the corner of his eye.

A boy, about the same age as Romeo, was right next to the lizard's head and was cowering for his life.

"Oi! Move unless you wanna be that guy's lunch!" Unfortunately, the kid's fear was so great that he didn't hear a word that Natsu said at all. The lizard began to open it's mouth, ready to consume the boy.

The pink haired teen acted immediately, and ran towards the small child. Natsu was just barely able to snatch him over his shoulder. Now already outta harms way, the teen tried stopping his momentum, resulting in a loud skidding noise from his sandals. Finally able to stop, he put the boy down and spoke.

"Ok, you're safe now, I'm Natsu and my partners and I are from fairy tail, we're here to get rid of these guys, so go run outside and wait for us to finish, kay?" The small boy just nodded in response as he wiped his tears with his arm, and like Natsu commanded, he ran outside to safety.

With the distractions gone, Natsu didn't have to worry about going all out anymore.

"Yosh! Happy!"

"Natsu!" The cat responded, as he picked his partner up and flew up a couple yards just above the lizard who was still on the floor. Happy let go of Natsu, and the dragon slayer lifted a fist and shouted,

"FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"

The flaming punch not only killed the creature immediately, but it burnt it significantly, and left a slightly smokey scent in the air. Natsu looked back at Happy and the two gave each other a high five in victory.

"Ah, I'm hungry now aren't you?"

"Aye! But I want fish... Ne, where's Lucy?"

Natsu suddenly realized his surroundings and began to worry, moving his head around in every direction, hoping to catch sight of the stellar mage.

 _There were **two** lizards now that I think about it... Crap! She better be okay. Just wait Luce!_

Natsu's frantic searching in place wasn't helping at all until Happy suggested the obvious.

"Ne Natsu, why don't you try sniffing around and try catching her scent? She can't be that far..."

"Oh that's right! Thanks!"

Lifting his nose into the air he caught a variety of different smells, first the closest: himself, Happy, burnt lizard, the small boy. Then, he tried focusing a bit harder and caught the further ones: the other lizard, Taurus? A mix of other people, Lucy... and her blood.

All color drained from Natsu's face as his feet moved before he could think.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it, she better be okay. This is all my fault, I should have stayed with her. I swore I'd protect her damn it!_

As Natsu ran closer to his partner, he realized the group of people in the corner were gone, and the other huge lizard was sliced cleanly in half. Behind it's corpse was a figure he loved and knew too well, collapsed on the ground in a puddle of blood.

"LUUUUUCY!"

 **A/n: thnx for reading please review!**

 **-Ryan sensei**


	4. Do nothing

**A/n: yo, its been a while, im not gonna make up excuses on why I didn't update, bt if ya like wat ur reading so far.. review. Thnx for the support**

 **-Ryan sensei**

The silent room filled with lizard corpses currently held the famous team of three. Happy, Natsu, and Lucy, yet only the sound of flapping wings and sandals running against the hardwood floor could be heard.

 **Lucy's POV**

Lucy was lying peacefully on the floor until she heard her name, screamed by her partner.

"LUUUUUCY!"

The concern and sheer force of the voice caused Lucy to slowly open her eyes. As her eyes looked around the room, she was relieved to see that her partner was coming towards her.

 _He must've successfully killed the other lizard, but why is he running over here? Did I get in his way? Oh god, I know I keep getting in the way, but I just didn't want be a burden again._

As Natsu finally appeared before her, he crouched down, his hands ghosting over her, unsure of his partner's condition. Lucy saw his hands moving towards her and she hazily began speaking.

"Natsu I-"

Before she could finish, Natsu's arms encircled her. Before she knew it, he was lifting her upper body close to his chest so she'd just be sitting up.

 **Natsu's POV**

 _She's alive, she's alive, she's not dead, she's here..._

Lucy slightly pushed away from Natsu and spoke, "huh? Natsu what's wrong?"

"LUUCY!" Happy shouted, as he landed next to the two.

"What happened to the people? What's going on you guys?" Asked Lucy sitting up on her own.

 _Worry about yourself a little would ya?_

"We saw you on the ground! And you're covered in blood! And Natsu smelt your blood so-"

"Thats right! I still smell your blood, where is it? We're going to the doctors right now to get you checked out. Can you stand? You know what? Carrying you's faster."

"Huh? Wait Natsu! What about the people! Are they safe?!" Lucy asked desperately grabbing both of his shoulders.

"They're all safe and waiting outside, so up you go," the dragon slayer stated as he lifted the blonde up bridal style.

Lucy just let out a sigh and gripped onto Natsu's vest, already used to the idea of him carrying her. Natsu blushed lightly, but as he kicked the building's door down, the blush was replaced with a serious face. The group of people who were about to be attacked by lizards were now waiting anxiously outside for their saviors.

Natsu was greeted by a group of now relieved eyes and asked them,"questions later, for now where's the nearest doctor? My partner's injured and she needs to see a doctor!"

"Natsu, it's fine I don't need a-" Lucy whispered nervously.

"No Luce, it's not fine at all."

The small boy he'd helped previously, pushed his way through the crowd, and slowly approached Natsu.

"Um our two best doctors left town 'cause of the lizard problems, but I know where the third best doctor is! He's really nice! I could take you to him!"

"Thank you! Would you really- say, what's your name?"

"... Micheal," the black haired boy said nervously. Natsu patted his head and smiled.

"Lead the way Micheal! We're countin' on ya!"

With Micheal leading the way for the three, the other townspeople, unwilling to let their saviors go unthanked followed.

 **NxLxNxLxNxL**

"Well the good news is it's nothing serious," said the short doctor with swirled glasses, a long white beard and a lab coat.

Multiple sighs of relief were heard throughout the packed room.

"But there was so much blood!" Said Happy who sat worriedly next to Lucy on the patient's bed.

"Oh! Some of it was indeed her blood, but most of it was the lizard's blood. I'm quite surprised such a lovely lady like yourself was able to take a one of the seda lizards. Her own blood was coming from her hands that I just finished patching up... now!"

Lucy, now in a new and clean set of clothes, smiled from the compliment, this smile reassured Natsu that she would be okay, and he was able to smile once again in return.

"There is one other thing though..." said the doctor. Everyone's eyes turned back towards the man, with worry in their eyes.

"I don't have the proper equipment to tell why you fainted, but I bet you were just tired from your use in magic."

 _There's no way I'd be tired just by using Taurus and Horologium. It's probably because I haven't eaten in so long plus the strain of using magic that my body couldn't take it. I got lucky this time, but I'll have to be more careful…_ Lucy thought.

"On the other hand, she's also dislocated her shoulder, so I gotta pop it back in. Unfortunately, we don't have any pain killers, so it's gonna hurt quite a bit..." The old man then turned directly to Lucy, putting both hands on her dislocated shoulder. "You ready?"

Lucy gave a pained smile and looked at Natsu. Her eyes held contact with his onyx ones, and Natsu refused to let go of those bark colored orbs.

Then without warning, the doctor pushed Lucy's arm back into position, creating a popping sound. Unfortunately, thanks to Natsu's hearing, was intensified, and he cringed at the sound, and tightened his fist.

"GYAHAAAAHHHH! AHHH! UGhhh.." Lucy screamed with tears that refused to spill, before biting her lower lip to muffle her scream. The doctor backed away, and sat back at his desk, filling out some paperwork.

Natsu wanted to make her pain away, he wanted to protect her, he loved her, and yet he could do **nothing** for her.

That was when Natsu noticed her pale hand that continued switching between making a fist, and flexing. It took no thought for Natsu to grasp that hand, and become her support. As he made contact, she quickly grasped tightly onto his hand, and held on until the pain subsided shortly after.

Natsu sat down on Lucy's side, with Happy curled on the opposite, they together looked like a family. The onyx eyed teen gently stroked Lucy's back as he had her lean on him for support. Only a few minutes passed, but for Natsu it might've been a millisecond, it was all too short before Lucy sat back up and sniffled.

"Thank you very much sensei," Lucy said smiling as she thanked the doctor.

The doctor smiled lightly, then sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't do any better than just first aid. If only the other doctors didn't leave and take the good equipment with them... It's all cause of those damn lizards!"

"Actually that's why we're here, we're from fairy tail, on the mission to destroy all of them!"

The doctor just rose an eyebrow in concern.

"Ok, today we were caught by surprise! It's not like I was clumsy or anything. I just pulled the weight off of a _really_ heavy lizard, got some bad rope burn and popped my shoulder... and was a little dizzy 'cause... I used too much magic..." Lucy said nervously.

 _She's acting kinda funny. She might be uncomfortable... Or maybe she's lying, or hit her head when she fell, I don't know, but it doesn't matter why, I'm just glad she's alive and safe, with me._

"I noticed earlier when you were speaking about the lizards you said 'seda'? What exactly is that? Can you tell us more about the lizards, anything'll help," Lucy said to the doctor.

"Oh! I can help with that!" Said a tall man in glasses that was anxiously waiting in the back with the other group of 6-7 people. His appearance was similar to Warren, but his hairstyle was more disheveled.

"You would?" Happy said excitedly, turning his head up to face the bunch of townsfolk gathered in the medium sized, yet empty room.

"Of course! Anything for Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, our saviors! Since you're all set, why don't Micheal and I take you to the research room. Oh! And I'm Crory by the way."

 **NxLxNxLxNxL**

 **Lucy's POV**

"Woaah! This place is huge!" Natsu said running down the long book aisles. Happy remained on Lucy's side.

"Okay all of you come over here!" Crory said motioning to a door in the back of the library.

Once Natsu rejoined the group, they all entered into a small dark room without windows. Croy pulled a box of matches from his pocket and began lighting the large candles that were stationed in each of the four corners in the room.

Lucy looked back at Natsu who was inching towards the flame and put up a hand to his chest, halting him.

"Don't you dare try eating that fire," Lucy whispered. A light tinge of red came across Natsu's cheeks and he crossed his arms looking away, pouting.

Once the candles were lit it was easier to tell why they were there. Dozens of lizard images were on the walls, calculations, a skeleton head of a lizard but five times smaller than what they faced.

"What is all this?" Happy said, looking around in awe.

"This, is the lizard research room. Through the past couple of months we've attained a lot of info to stand a chance against the lizards, but unfortunately we're not strong enough to defeat them, so we asked for some outside assistance, or in other words, you guys," Crory said proudly.

Lucy pulled up a chair from the meeting table in the center of the room and sat at the table.

"Alright, we're all ears so take it from the beginning."

Natsu followed his partner's lead and pulled up a chair, but sat in it the reversed position, arms crossed over the backrest.

"A couple of months ago, a traveler... A woman! Yeah, a short woman with black hair, rabbit ears, and was in a lab coat came to our town. We're not sure why exactly, but we do know she's the cause of everything... We have some underground mine fields, where we get larcrima crystals." Stated Crory.

"It's one of our specialties!" Micheal cheerfully added.

"Yes it is," Crory ruffled the young boy's hair playfully. "I remember witnesses say that she was rolling in a large box, about twice her size. Apparently inside were two of the lizards, one male and female, in their original forms..."

"Original forms? You mean those lizards weren't originally that... big?"

"Yeah, this is what we've gathered. The lizards were originally Komodo dragons..." Crory said drifting off.

Natsu's head perked up at the word, "dragon?!"

"Not the same kind Natsu, these are exotic and carnivorous beasts, but usually they aren't that big, they're like... 10 ft max.."

"Ah, yes! They were pretty big before, but now, it's just ridiculous! The woman injected them with some kind of serum and with time, they multiplied and now their sizes vary. A normal Komodo dragon, could eat a human, it's bite is deadly with poison and bacteria, and can move quite fast. Now with they're still just as carnivorous and deadly, in fact, and their appetites are several times bigger! But it's their sizes that make their speed slower for some of them, and faster for others, through the unfortunate cost of some lives, we were able to get a grasp of their different types and specialties."

"Ne Natsu, doesn't the woman they're talking about sound familiar?" Happy whispered. Natsu in response closed his eyes and tilted his head, trying to recall anyone that fit the description.

"There are three types of lizards. Mono, which is about the size of a mini horse carriage. Seda which you two witnessed today, and the last are the primas. They are about the size of...oh! About the size of a medium sized guild. There are only 2 and they are the original. They contain a slow, yet extremely powerful poison in their jaws. Those who've been in contact with even a tooth don't last more than 20 minutes. It's a slow and excruciating death, we're onto something, but still have a long way to go..." He took a moment to collect himself, clearly recalling unpleasant memories.

"The sedas are powerful, but slow and there are around twenty of them. Today was the first time that they actually went inside a building. It's usually just the mono lizards, we know how to take precautionary measures against them, but not against what is the sedas! Imagine our surprise when we see two of them just waltz right into our building as we were having a meeting on how to get rid of them! The mono lizards are fast and are quick tempered. So even the slightest movement could agitate them. We do know that they hate fire, but I don't know if that'll help much.." Crory finished as he pressed both his hands together.

"We just need to destroy their den and them, it's a lot, but... Please help us!" Micheal raised his voice in pleading

Natsu stood up and put a hand on Crory's tensed up shoulder, getting the man's attention, and looked off into nowhere specifically as he spoke.

"You guys are in luck. I happen to be a fire dragon slayer, who's great at destroying stuff and is super strong. My partners, and I will take care of everything. Just be ready to throw a huge party for when all the lizards are gone."

Natsu smiled at the two towns people, and a small glimmer of their lost hope returned to their eyes.

 _That's so like him. Just one of the reasons why I like him I guess..._

"Alright, as much as I want to get started now, I think we should secure ourselves a place to stay tonight.."

"You can stay at my place! It's just my mom and I there. She loves visitors! You can stay with us!" Micheal cheerfully said grabbing Natsu's hand. Natsu looked back to Lucy with pleading eyes.

"Ohhh okay, as long as your mom doesn't mind.."

"Yosh! Thanks Micheal!" Natsu said lifting Happy onto his head.

 **A/n: things are still a lil slow paced, bt i get impatient! I want stuff to happen! So, a development will happen... in the next chapter tho ?￢ﾜﾌ️** **Thnx & review**

 **-Ryan sensei**


	5. Beet red

**A/n: Sorry, life's a bitch, and so am I for making you wait so long. Sry bout that. I bring slight fluff as a peace offering.**

Micheal's house was a cosy cottage consisting of three bedrooms, and other daily use rooms. The cottage was also further from the lizard den, so there wasn't as big a worry for getting attacked in their sleep. Micheal's mother, Pam, a boney woman with a sickly complexion and dark brown hair was still beautiful nonetheless. As soon as she saw the faces of the three guests who entered her house, she was ecstatic and began preparing food for them.

"It's been so long since we've had guests! Sorry for the mess, I haven't had the chance to clean up yet! I hear that you guys are the ones that are going to be getting rid of the lizards! Let me just say it's an honor to be able to house our saviors. Thank you, thank you so much," she said passing Lucy, Natsu and Happy teacups filled with warm tea.

 **Natsu's POV  
**  
Lucy shifted awkwardly in the couch chair at the word 'savior', yet continued silently sipping her tea until after the conversion came and passed. Picking up on her subtle discomfort, Natsu stood up and ruffled Micheal's hair.

"Yosh! I think now's a good time to head to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning! C'mon Happy, Luce let's go upstairs to the guest rooms!"

What Natsu didn't prepare himself for was the fact that their was only 1 guest room, 1 bed, and 1 woman that he was madly in love with that'd be sleeping with him.

Natsu's face was a visible bright red as he scratched the back of his head. He stuttered as he began talking to Lucy.

"S-so if you w-want I can sleep on the floor..."

"No! No no! You don't have to trouble yourself, just sleep in the bed, _I'll_ sleep on the floor," Lucy suggested.

"No, that's definitely not happening. You need to rest up, we're gonna have a long day tomorrow."

"You do too! I don't want to always gonna cause any problems for you! So please..."

 _What is she talking about? Does she really think she's troubling me? How long has she been thinking like this? You know what-  
_  
Natsu took Lucy's hand, and pulled her to the bed.

"Natsu? Wai- hold on, I said-"

"Nope."

"Huh? Natsu I said I would slee-"

"Nope." Natsu used a little bit of his strength to plop both of them onto the bed. The two partners now laid down face to face, foreheads touching each other. Lucy stared wide eyed at Natsu as a dark blush appeared on both of their faces.

"Ya know this isn't the first time we've slept together, today's no different,"  
Natsu said, sitting up and trying to look anywhere, but at Lucy.

"I know, but I'm always trou-" Natsu put his index finger to her lips, effectively silencing her, and looked into her eyes seriously.

"Luce, you're not troubling me. I care about you, and you're not in the way. If anything, I'm lucky to have you! I'm honestly really happy when I'm with you, and just wanna be the one to protect you.."

"Natsu, you really don't have to protect me, or try flattering me because I'm your partner, I'll only feel worse..." the blonde whispered at a volume still audible for the dragon slayer to hear. Sitting up, and glancing sadly to the side, her downcast expression became more emanant.

 _How do I make it clear to her that I care, that I...  
_  
"Ok, I think I'm gonna go ask for another blanket so I can sleep on the floor..." Lucy said starting to get up. Panicking, Natsu grabbed Lucy's fleeting hand, and pulled her back towards the bed and hugged her. He held onto her for his life, making sure she stayed, making sure she wouldn't slip away from his grasp.

Slightly loosening his hold, yet still grasping onto her, Natsu looked down at Lucy who was blushing underneath him. His instincts spoke before his reason as he quickly closed the space between them and kissed her.

For a few seconds Lucy stared, surprised at her partner. Then gave into him, closing her eyes and moaning lightly in the process.

Natsu's face blushed as he slightly pulled away.

"Luce... I love you."

"Huh? Natsu there's no way you could ever love me I'm too-"

"Beautiful?"

"No! I'm honestly-"

"Amazing?"

"Natsu..."

"It's true! I care about you!"

"You're just too nice to admit it! It's okay, you don't have to pretend to care anymore! I don't know why everyone tries-"

"Luce do you trust me?"

"... Well yeah, but-"

"Then _trust_ me when I say I care about you!" He leaned down, and placed a soft, yet chaste kiss on her lips.

"I care about you." He leaned down again and kissed her.

"Lucy Heartfelia I care about you. I don't know why it's so hard to get. I'm fuckin' crazy about you, cause I love you..." Natsu leaned down once again, but this time, his kiss lingered longer than before.

"I get it. I really do-" Lucy began before Natsu cut her off once more.

"Do you _really_ get it? I'm telling you that I love you! I know you think you're troubling me, but you're not. Right now you might be weirded out by the fact that your partner loves you, but I just had to say i-" that was when Natsu was cut off by Lucy pulling his head towards her and initiating a kiss.

After a few moments, the two looked at each other, her nose nuzzled against his. He lying above her. Then Natsu unwillingly sat up so he could be heard clearly.

"Wai- hold on I'm confused, does thi-" Lucy put her index finger to his lips.

"I wasn't and am still not entirely sure if it's alright for me to feel this way. I mean, look at you, you're amazing and I'm... What I'm trying to say is I care about you too... And I just _might_ be in love with you too, only if these types of feelings are okay..." Lucy said, removing her finger and fiddling with her fingers nervously.

A few tears slipped down Natsu's face as he didn't look away from Lucy.

"I'm sorry! I knew I shouldn't ha-" Lucy started.

"No! It's not what you're thinking. These are happy tears... it's just… I've been worried- for you don't know how long- I've been in love with you for so long, and to hear you say that you feel the same way…You have no idea how happy I am right now..."

Lucy stood up on her knees and used her thumbs on both hands to wipe his few tears and placed a light kiss on his forehead.

"Hey! I said I might be! It's a _maybe_ I might have feelings for you..."

 _Despite what she says, thank you so much God, I'm so happy that I can't even contain myself.  
_  
Out of nowhere a light chuckle could be heard in the corner of the room, the two lovebirds turned their heads in the direction of the sound, and that was when they both remembered. Happy was with them the whole time.

Both faces turning beet red, Happy was overjoyed for his partners, but still loved seeing them get flustered.

"You liiiiiiike him~" Happy said to Lucy.

What neither of the boys expected was for Lucy to salute him and with her eyes closed respond saying, "aye sir!" Followed by the most beautiful smile she'd ever given.

 _God, thank you. I would cross the world to see that smile...  
_  
Natsu's heart skipped a beat as he stayed frozen for a moment, he was interrupted by Lucy getting under the covers and turning on her right side.

"Knew it," he whispered with a smirk.

Natsu followed suit and laid down under the covers, but hugged her from behind as he did so. Shortly after, Happy did the same, only snuggling himself above their heads.

 **NxLxNxLxNxL**

That night both Happy and Natsu had one of the best sleeps they'd ever experienced. As for Lucy, It was the return of her nightmares despite how comfortable and happy she'd been.

 **Lucy's POV/ Within Lucy's dream  
**  
Lucy was once again greeted with absolute darkness, yet this time she was able to slightly see the figures of two people.

 _"Please kill me, Natsu I'm ready," said the unknown voice._

 _ **"Oi! Why Natsu? Hey! Why do you want him to kill you? Who are you?!"  
**_ _  
"Zeref I'm not killing you!" Shouted the voice of the dragon slayer she knew too well._

 _ **"ZEREF?! Natsu, he's here too?! Why would he be here?!"  
**_ _  
"As soon as I unseal E.N.D. You'll be able to end my immortality. To release me from my sins. You're ready, this is why I preserved you for all these years. To kill me," said Zeref.  
_  
The dream ended with two red eyes staring back at Lucy, as if looking into her soul.

 **(End of dream)  
**  
Horrified, Lucy's eyes shot open as she tried catching the breath she hadn't realized she'd lost.

Panting, Lucy took a moment to look at her surroundings. It was still early outside and both her partners were still peacefully sleeping.

Hoping not to wake the dragon slayer or exceed, she vertebrae by vertebrae slid out of Natu's now loose grasp. Before tip toeing out of the room, she glanced back at Natsu and was reminded of her dream.

 _Why would Zeref want Natsu to kill- Lucy it was just a dream. That wouldn't, no- it couldn't happen... Right?_

Lucy quietly closed the door behind her, and made her way to the bathroom down the hall. Her habit was appearing again, could it even be called that? There wasn't even a pattern anymore, there were just moments where she felt like throwing up was the only way to relief her. It felt like some sort of cleanse throughout her system. Get rid of something, receive something in return.

She didn't know better, she'd learned that to feel good about yourself only happened if you succeeded in life, and the only ones that succeeded as far as she could see were either strong, rich, smart, or beautiful. Lucy still remembered how young she was when it was made clear to her by **him** , that she wasn't strong, smart, or beautiful.

Just the thought of it made Lucy want to puke. Those red eyes in her dream seemed all too similar to **that man** when **he** was in one of his moods. Lucy slowly lifted her head from the seat and glanced at the door she forgot to lock.

Lucy was too occupied to hear Pam stop and appear standing in the door frame, but when she sensed another's presence, her watery eyes met eyes of concern.

"I can explain I-" Lucy's words were cut off my a tear filled hug.

Pam didn't say anything, and she didn't have to. Lucy washed her hands and flushed the toilet.

"Does he know? Natsu, does he know?" Pam shakily asked.

"N-no and I don't plan on telling him either..."

Pam grabbed Lucy's hands, and held firmly.

"I have no right to inquire you, but do you realize you're killing yourself by doing this?"

Lucy looked to the side, as if ashamed with none other than herself, and bit her lip.

"Please reconsider doing something so harmful to yourse-" It was at that moment where a thought crossed Pam's mind: _What if by pushing her, they refuse to help us?_

The thought alone was reason enough for Pam to zip her lips and resigned from the one sided argument.

"...I can't convince you to stop further hurting yourself, so until someone else does, I suggest... I suggest... you lock the door next time. I saw you this time, but you never know who-"

"Thank you..." Lucy sobbed

Pam scrunched her brows together while clenching her bony fists, and sighed, "C'mon Lucy. You and your partners have a big day today. Why don't you help me make a big breakfast for everyone?"

Lucy nodded before wiping her tears with her arm, "kay..."

Pam looked sadly at Lucy and couldn't help but wonder, _why would such a breathtaking girl do this to herself? If only I wasn't such a selfish coward that needs their help, maybe I'd be able to do something... But we can't afford to have these mages leave, and I don't want to risk anything. I just hope someone saves her before before it's too late..._

 ** _ _A/n: dun dun dunnnnn! Thoughts? The mission WILL__** ** _ _commence__** ** _ _soon! Stay tooned, lol. If there's grammar mistakes, sorry, i was so eager to post this that I didn't check w/my editor... oh boi.__**

 ** _ _-Ryan Sensei__**


	6. Dreams rumble

**A/n: Well hey guys! It's been a while ik, every time I'd get a message for one story, I was like, nope I gotta update this one first and got really lazy. I'm sorry for doing tht to u readers, pls accept this longer in length chapter!**

 **-Ryan Sensei**

 **Natsu's POV**

As Natsu shifted in the bed, he lightly groaned in happiness while dreaming.

 **Within Natsu's dream  
**  
Sitting criss crossed on top of one the guild's tables, Natsu laughed hysterically at the sight. Kneeling on their knees before him, were both Gray and Erza.

"Natsu, you are so much stronger than me, you are the best in all Fiore, please teach me your ways of awesomeness," Erza said bowing her head to the floor before the salmon haired slayer.

"Haha! You're 400 years too early for that! I mean, I am too strong after all. Haha!"

"Natsu, I'm a stupid, idiot, shit head, who is a mere pebble in your presence. I'm not worthy!" Gray said crumbling before Natsu's presence.

"You can say that again! Where's Luce by the way?"

"I think after fishing with Happy, she went back to her house!" Levy shouted from nearby.

The setting suddenly changed into Lucy's living room, and Natsu began to search for the one who'd captured his heart.

He walked around her house, aimlessly looking at the things she'd gathered before reaching the kitchen. His jaw dropped at the breathtaking scene, before him was Luce, wearing only one of his shirts, clearly too big for her as it just about reached her mid thigh, and nothing else underneath.

"L-Luce... you look-"

"Natsu! Oh you're here! Come try the frosting for these cupcakes I'm making!" Lucy said cheerfully as she swiped her finger across the bowl of frosting. Successfully grabbing a small glop on her index finger, she held it up towards Natsu.

"See, I'm not sure if this is too sweet, or if it's-" Natsu quickly silenced her as he enveloped her index finger with his mouth. His tongue, licking all the frosting off, purposely made loud, sloppy sounds as he lightly backed her up onto the countertop.

Lucy lightly blushed before slowly pulling her finger away, and hesitantly inched closer to Natsu's face and kissed him.

Natsu felt on top of the world at that point, but was interrupted by Lucy, who stopped her actions, and put the same finger that had been in his mouth between their faces.

"So, the frosting?" Lucy asked pleadingly.

"It was amazing... I'd love to taste s'more," Natsu said as his lips inched closer to hers. Lucy slipped off from the countertop, missing Natsu's kiss attempt by a second before saying,

"I'm glad you liked it, I'll get you some more then!" She said with a smile and walking in the frosting bowl's direction.

Eager to pull her back, Natsu reached for Lucy's closest hand, but just missed it as she propelled downwards, out of his grasp. No one moved for a few seconds, Natsu stood horrified as he saw his partner collapse before his eyes.

"Luce?"

"H-hey Luce..."

"Oi! Lucy..."

"LUCY?!"

 **(End of Dream)**

Natsu jolted awake from his sleep, scared for what he'd last seen. It took a few moments for him to catch his breath, he turned towards his left, and saw Happy sleeping stomach up, on top of his pillow. The pink haired teen chuckled at the sight, and pinched his cheeks.

Happy let out a low unhappy groan and went back to sleep. Slightly frustrated, Natsu pulled the exceed's cheeks, _this_ got Happy's attention.

"Natsu, what's goin' on? I'm still sleepy..."

"Sorry, it's just..."

 _I'm definitely not saying that I want company 'cause of a bad dream. That would sound cuter if Luce said it...  
_  
"Well, uh.. It's almost time! Yeah, we gotta start getting ready for our mission. I gotta wake up Luce too, but I thought I'd have you go first!"

"Oh... Wait, what do you mean? Lucy's not here," Happy said, sitting up and wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"Huh? What are you talking about? She's right-" Natsu said turning his upper half towards his right.

A look of fear covered his face as he jolted up to his feet, and looked around the room like a madman. Unable to find her, he shoved the door open and began looking frantically for the blonde.

Only when Natsu reached the kitchen did some of his fears lighten. He saw a beautiful blonde happily cooking with their host, but he needed to confirm it. He needed to make sure it was real, that she was truly there and gonna stay.

The dragon slayer sprinted towards the blonde and hugged her from behind. Firmly holding the girl of his dreams in his grasp, he let out a slight sigh of relief, and while snuggling into her shoulder he said, "I'm so glad you're alright.."

Lucy froze for a second in worry, then recomposed herself, "oh! Are you talking about my injuries from yesterday? I'm fine no need to worry Natsu. I'm all good... That's right! Pam and I made breakfast for everyone! Ne Happy, can you go get Micheal and tell him breakfast is ready?"

"But I'm still sleepy.." Happy complained, yet still went to fetch the boy in the other room.

The celestial mage tilted her head to the right and looked at Natsu, who still hadn't let go of Lucy's frame.

"You ok Natsu? I have to-"

"No! No, I mean. Just, please don't go anywhere. Just let me stay like this for a little while longer..."

Lucy sighed, surrendering to Natsu for a bit longer and sat at the table. Following suit, the pink haired male sat in the seat across from Lucy.

Eyes wide and drool eminent, Natsu grabbed a fistful of bacon and ripped a bite from the pieces.

"Luce, this tastes amazing!"

"Don't worry Natsu, there's plenty of food left, there's no need to rush. Pam did a ton of the work too, she- Oh! Good morning Micheal, your mom and I made breakfast for everyone," Lucy said, turning her head towards the young boy.

"Wow! There's so much food!" Micheal exclaimed, practically bouncing to his seat, Happy followed behind Micheal and sat next to Natsu.

"I was told that you like fish" Pam said, placing a large platter of fish in front of the exceed, and joining the table.

"Yey! Thank you!" Happy shouted while digging in, leaving Lucy chuckling in response.

"Ne, Mom, how come we're having so much today?" Micheal said, putting a few eggs on his plate.

"We're having this to wish our guests good luck today, they're gonna need all the strength they can get..." Pam glanced in Lucy's direction and hid her sigh when she saw Passion tea as her choice of breakfast. She cleared her throat and declared a quiet, 'itadakimasu'* before helping herself.

It was only until the table was almost clear did Micheal ask, "Lucy-san, are you not gonna eat anything? Mom said that you're gonna be getting rid of all the lizards and you need the strength to do that!"

Natsu halted his eating as he stared at his partner once again.

 _Now that I think about it, when was the last time I saw her eat? But then again, I have all my attention on what I'm eating, so I wouldn't really know. I should be more aware next time..._

Lucy chuckled before lying, "Oh I'm fine, while your mom and I were cooking, I did a lot of snacking so I'm full, plus I'm not really big on breakfast and prefer tea in the morning." Well it wasn't a complete lie, she does drink tea every morning, so it was more of a half truth.

A belch in Happy's direction was like the signal for them to get moving. The trio began to pack the essentials while the hosts cleared the table. In no time they were ready to kill some monsters.

 **NxLxNxLxNxL**

Having already finished their thank you's goodbyes, the trio made their way to the mining field's cave entrance. A crowd of spectators had gathered around the opening to wish them luck before going in.

Despite all the noise and cheering, Lucy managed to zone it all out and worked on her breathing, the pounding in her head reappeared, but she managed to dull the pain and look at her partner.

"Natsu… you ready?" She asked quiet enough for only him to hear.

Grabbing her left hand, his thumb brushed over the bandages. "I'll always be ready," he stated with a smirk.

Lucy blushed a light shade of bubblegum, and looked down.

"Just one thing Luce… Please be careful, I know you're strong, but something feels different this time. I've just had a bad feeling all morning…"

Lucy tightened her grip on Natsu's hand and brought her other bandaged hand to his cheek. With the touch of her fingertips, warmth spread across the dragon slayer's cheeks and his focus was entirely on this woman.

"I'll try my best, but I'm not making any promises, sorry," she said with a wink. As cute as Natsu found it, he couldn't help but sigh. There wasn't much he could do with this matter except do whatever he could to make sure nothing bad happened to either of his partners.

"Yosh, let's go!"

"Aye sir!" "Yeah."

 **NxLxNxL**

The cave would've been quite dark if it wasn't for the purple glow from the lacrima crystals, and the few torches on the walls here and there.

"Wow this is amazing!" Happy shouted flying slightly ahead.

"Can you smell them and where most of them are?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, their smell is practically everywhere, but there are a ton way further down…"

Lucy took a map out from her backpack and examined it as she walked. "Going by this map of the mines that Crory gave me, these mines can stretch on for miles with mini cave pockets here and there, but there is a center point that's vast and deep in the center, big enough to fit two medium sized guilds. I'm betting this is where the two primas are. Knowing this, I think we should avoid it and kill all the mono and sedas first. Not only will they be easier, but since they're bigger in numbers they could overwhelm us if we're not careful. Better safe than sorry, right?"

Natsu smiled, knowing that Lucy wasn't being as reckless as usual was a slight relief, but still didn't ease his worries.

"WAAAHHHHHH! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I DON'T WANNA GET EATEN!" The exceed screamed flying straight past the two, then back tracking to hide behind Natsu.

"Happy? What's wrong?" Lucy asked out of genuine concern. Just then, not just Natsu heard it, but they all could.

The sound of a stampede of mono lizards heading straight in their direction.

"...Happy, WHAT DID YOU DO?" Lucy shrieked, putting away the map and pulling out her fleuve d'étoiles.

Natsu gave a smirk before cracking his knuckles, "this works out great, some of them are comin' straight to us. That saves us time."

The dragon slayer's words brought newfound confidence to his team before they all began smiling in unison.

"I'm all fired up!"

"Bring it on!"

"Aye sir!"

The first wave of lizards were near the size of a horse carriage, just slightly towering over them. These amphibians definitely looked closer to a komodo dragon, but their strength on a completely different level.

Using her whip, Lucy strangled the first lizard into submission before pulling a tad more to snap it's neck.

 _This is so gross, but at least Natsu's here… Now all I gotta do is kill a bunch more and try not to use too much magic…_ Lucy thought to herself while glancing back at her team mates, then continuing.

Using his thumb, Natsu wiped a smudge of blood off his cheek before shouting, " **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR**!"

A large section of the wave dropped like flies, but a few more came right after to replace them. "This isn't getting anywhere!" The slayer shouted in exasperation.

An idea immediately crossed Lucy's mind. Giving a loud groan, she took out her keys and summoned a spirit.

Happy managed to find a job to do in order to help out his team mates. Any lizards that got through his partners, but weren't down for the count were finished off by the exceed. Natsu turned in Happy's direction and had a puzzled look on his face.

"Oi Happy, do you hear that? It sounds like-"

"The scorpion guy!"

"Natsu come over here! I got an idea!" Lucy shouted from her position.

Running to the blonde, Natsu did a mental check on Lucy for injuries and lightly sighed in relief. "So what's the plan Luce?"

She gave a subtle nod before checking over Happy's figure to see how much time she had before the monos caught up.

"Alright, here's the plan…"

 **NxLxNxL**

"Happy, are you sure that this is the last wave?" The pink haired teen confirmed.

"I didn't see any more coming…"

"That works too. Alright, COME ON YOU OVERGROWN GECKOS!" The rumbling of multiple feet headed their direction became more prominent within the tunnel, until one could visibly see all of the owners of said feet.

Lucy got into a ready stance and eyed the mob carefully, "wait for it…. wait for it…"

The shrieks of a few lizards drawing near caused Happy to look fearfully at the celestial mage. "Um L-Lucy?"

"Just wait a bit longer…"

"L-Lucy?"

"Almost…"

"LUCY!"

"Now you two!"

At the sound of their cue, Natsu and Scorpio stood side by side in battle stance.

" **SAND BUSTER**!" " **FIRE DRAGON'S RAWR**!"

The combination of the wind tornado and fire attack transformed the two powerful attacks into an enormous, hell bringing flame tornado, instantly roasting all in its pathway. By the time the attack faded, the only thing left was the crisp smell of burnt meat.

Happy would've been tempted to try eating one of the lizards if it wasn't for the fact that he'd just witnessed how deadly they were first hand, and they were over cooked.

Natsu turned towards Lucy with the widest smile he could muster, proud of their teamwork. "Nice job Luce!" He said before high-fiving her.

"Thanks, but you did most of the work."

"Luce, you know that's not-"

Before Natsu could finish his sentence, an almighty rumbling sound echoed throughout the area.

"Natsu, that's not your stomach right?" Happy teased, effectively earning him a bonk on the head. The pink haired teen picked up his now unconscious partner and placed him under his arm.

Hoping his other partner would have a better idea of what was going on, he turned towards Lucy. As if time suddenly turned into slow motion, his eyes widened to see a large amount of rocks fall in Lucy and her spirit's direction.

Only being able to extend his hand, Natsu watched in horror as the rocks came falling between he and Lucy. The last thing he could remember hearing was the sound of Lucy's cry.

"NATSU! _Help me."_

 ***** itadakimasu is the japanese way for saying, thanks for the food or bonne appetite

 **A/n: Hope u guys enjoyed, feel free to drop a review, those r fun to read. Till next time! Oh quick question, I just finished the shows** ** _Hawaii 5-0_** **(2011 version) and** ** _The 100_** **and boi do I love them both. I zoomed through them so fast on netflix tht now I'm waiting for the nxt season to air on tv, can anyone rec a show** **similar** **to either? Thnx**

 **-Ryan Sensei**


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